


How Hulk Accidentally Finds Out

by BucksomeBarnes (Freckled_Halos)



Series: the Assembled Avengers Initiative [5]
Category: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Slice of Life, getting caught, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 09:10:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14997581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freckled_Halos/pseuds/BucksomeBarnes
Summary: Everyone in the facility knew about Steve and Bucky, one way or another. However, an occasion—and desire—to tell Hulk never really came up, but that doesn't mean he doesn't find out.





	How Hulk Accidentally Finds Out

Hulk finding out turned out to be the easiest.

Steve wasn’t sure what to expect. He knew Bruce would have been fine and empathetic about it, but Hulk? By this time, everyone in the facility knew, one way or another. Steve was sure they all had talked about it when he and Bucky weren’t around, which was alright with him only because he had been in control of who knew in the first place. But an occasion—and desire—to tell Hulk never really came up. He had a room in the compound, extra large and extra fortified, but often wasn’t there. Nobody knew exactly where he went or what he did while he was gone, but he always showed up when it was important.

During the rare stretches of time Hulk _was_ around, he spent most of the day in and out of the industrial sized kitchen.

It was the middle of a sticky hot summer night and Steve and Bucky were in their underwear, quietly padding barefoot down the corridor from their suite. The entire building was still. The elevator doors ghosted open and they slipped in, hitting the second floor button. The instant the door shut, they were on each other. Steve knew there were cameras in the elevators for security purposes, but the thought was just a faint whisper in the back of his head. At the moment, the only thing he could focus on was Bucky grabbing at him, one hand hot and rough, the other cold and metallic. The contrasting sensations made the pit of Steve’s stomach tingle. They feverishly pawed at each other, faces smashing together as they alternated between giggling like kids and sucking at each other’s mouths like their lives depended on it.

The doors opened and Steve backed out, Bucky pushing him by the chest into the hall. They stumbled around each other’s feet, sneaking down towards the kitchen where a stash of ice cream large enough to feed an army laid wait in the massive freezers. They passed through the doorway as Steve took Bucky’s bottom lip gently between his teeth, Bucky freely moaning in response. Steve grabbed him by the hips and slammed his back into the side of a metal refrigerator with enough force to dent it, sending a loud _clang_ throughout the sprawling kitchen. Neither of them registered that the lights were already turned on as they continued ravaging each other. It went on for a few more seconds and right before Steve’s hand slid all the way under Bucky’s waistband, a loud grumble echoed from the other side of the room. Finally tearing away from each other, Steve and Bucky both looked towards the source of the sound, cheeks flushed and hair tousled.

Sitting at the end of one of the long steel tables was Hulk. He had already gotten to the ice cream stash; three empty cartons sat melting on the table and he was halfway through a fourth, a serving spoon gripped in his huge green fist.

Steve’s entire body turned red and even _Bucky_ blushed as they sprang away from each other. Steve’s mouth opened and closed, trying to produce words, but none came out. Hulk just stood up, wrapping his free hand around the half empty container and stared at them. He looked angry, as usual, and Steve braced himself for any kind of reaction he might have. Instead, Hulk just shook his head and bounded towards them. They stepped to either side of the doorway, making room for him to duck through. Before he did, however, the tiniest smirk passed over his face as he looked at both Steve and Bucky in their panicked eyes.

His elephant footsteps boomed down the hall. It wasn’t until the room was silent again that Bucky or Steve finally looked at each other.

“I…” Bucky started.

Steve stared at him and shrugged nervously.

In silence, they found more ice cream in the freezer and each took a tub, Bucky Rocky Road and Steve Neapolitan. They grabbed two spoons and headed back to the elevator. They rode up to the top floor, but instead of heading back to their apartment, they took an immediate left into a service closet where a metal ladder built into the wall read “roof access.” They climbed up, Steve easily pushing the latch open, and stepped out into the humid night.

The tree-studded land surrounding the facility was pitch black and the darkness of the grounds and sky illuminated more stars than either of them could count. Still wordless, they lightly stepped past the latch, and sat down at the sleek, flat edge of the roof, legs dangling a few stories above the tall front doors and elaborate concrete walkway. They clinked their spoons together in quiet cheers before diving into their ice cream.

An hour later, the cartons were empty and Steve was lying down, his head resting in Bucky’s lap, gazing at the stars. Bucky ran his fingers distractedly through Steve’s hair and hummed the slow melody of _Blue Moon_. Steve’s eyelids slowly slid closed.

He was almost asleep when Bucky fell silent. He then whispered, “Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Hulk is a cherry?”

Steve’s eyes shot open and his head raised off of Bucky’s crossed legs. “ _What_?”

“You know, when someone hasn’t—”

“That’s not—I know what ‘cherry’ means.”

“Well, do you think so?”

He set his head down again. “I don’t know.”

Bucky resumed stroking through Steve’s hair. “I mean…who would he do it with, though? It must be massive—”

“Jesus, Bucky…” Steve laughed, covering his face with his hands.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m just curious. Does he even want to? Could Hulk fall in love?”

Steve sighed and glanced up from under his eyebrows to see Bucky leaning over him, hair falling in his face and looking quizzical.

Steve quirked an eyebrow. “Why, you interested?”

Bucky suppressed a smile and shrugged. “It’s just fascinating to me. What makes people fall in love with who they do? Why do some people have a sex drive and some don’t? The human brain is a messy place.”

Steve shifted, crossing his arms on his chest and closing his eyes again. “I don’t know, Buck. God knows why I fell in love with _you._ ”

He could sense the smile spreading on Bucky’s face as he fell silent. It took a few moments until Bucky blurted, “do you think he can have kids? Is _that_ green too?!”

“ _James Buchanan!_ ” This time, Steve shot all the way up to a sitting position and swung around to look at Bucky’s innocent expression, laughing openly. “Didn’t your mother raise you better than to walk around asking about other peoples’ privates?”

“You don’t seem to have a problem with it when it’s _yours_ I’m concerned about.”

Steve wrapped his hand around the back of Bucky’s neck and pulled him forward, kissing him hard on the mouth. “Mine better be the _only ones_ you’re concerned about.”

Bucky smirked, licking his lips. “Oh, so that’s it. You the jealous type, Rogers?”

The fire between them that getting caught by the Hulk extinguished in an instant started to crackle up again. Crawling forward, Steve coaxed Bucky down to his back while standing on hands and knees above him. He dropped his hips, grinding into Bucky’s pelvis. Bucky responded with a low moan as his eyes burned into Steve’s.  

“Come back to bed with me and I’ll show you just what _type_ I am,” Steve husked.

Staring intently at Steve’s lips, Bucky nodded and moved to get up. Steve stood, offering a hand. They grabbed the empty ice cream containers and spoons before rushing back to the hatch, scrambling down the ladder and through the hall towards their suite. The door latched shut, hiding them inside as the first light of dawn began to peek its way over the tree line, the rest of the world just beginning to wake up.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the total tease and then no sex lol But it seemed a fitting end--there will be other times to get explicit haha
> 
> Also, is this weird? I kind of can't decide if the whole rooftop conversation is odd or endearing or gross or funny. I don't know. I kind of like it. Let me know what you think haha 
> 
> But I could not figure out a better way to phrase "privates" ugh. I will say, though, that I did research '30s and '40s slang for "virgin" which I'm sure makes my search history look very interesting but what else is new


End file.
